Tag: Peace Process

Jews around the world this Friday night will ask God for forgiveness. Don Futterman, writing in Haaretz, says this year Jews of all political persuasions, no matter where they live, have much to atone for.

The former Israeli prime minister turned “the two-state solution into a cloud of dust,” Palestinian political scientist and former minister of the Palestinian Authority Ali Jarbawi writes in The New York Times.

This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: understanding the deadly siege in Nairobi, this week’s big U.N. speeches through the prism of Arab public opinion, the First Amendment club for “official” journalists, and cryptography guru Bruce Schneier says Edward Snowden’s work isn’t done.

This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: understanding the deadly siege in Nairobi, this week’s big U.N. speeches through the prism of Arab public opinion, the First Amendment club for “official” journalists, and cryptography guru Bruce Schneier says Edward Snowden’s work isn’t done.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are scheduled to meet in Jordan on Tuesday, but don’t expect fireworks. Nothing has changed since Palestinians threw up their hands at continued Israeli settlement construction.

Speaking to the AIPAC conference on Sunday, the president said “The status quo is unsustainable” and “Delay will undermine Israel’s security and the peace that the Israeli people deserve.” He also softened his call in a Thursday speech for a return to the 1967 borders, which didn’t go over well with Israel’s hard-liners—like the prime minister.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has condemned the recent reunification of Palestinian leadership, met Thursday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy to forestall attempts by Palestinians to win national recognition in the U.N. (more)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reportedly strongly rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a telephone call between the two leaders, claiming that Netanyahu “hasn’t made a single step to advance peace.”

Avigdor Lieberman says it will be “at least a decade” before peace can be negotiated with the Palestinians. Israel’s extremist foreign minister calls for “less international involvement and over-doing and over-speaking” in this interview.

As the decade draws to a close, it is clear that the bright hopes inspired by Obama’s 2009 Cairo speech have markedly faded, and the disappointments have outweighed achievements in the most important arena for contemporary American foreign policy.

Their closed-door discussion was “honest and straightforward,” according to White House press chief Robert Gibbs, but alas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama weren’t able to fully iron out their differences during Tuesday’s tête-à-tête.

Just days after Vice President Joe Biden’s good-will trip to Israel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver a stern warning about Israel’s announcement, which unfortunately coincided with Biden’s visit, that it will build 1,600 more housing units in East Jerusalem.

President Barack Obama just got a report card from Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and it’s not good. According to Abbas, Obama “is doing nothing for the peace process” between Israelis and Palestinians ... (continued)

Dashing the president’s hopes to restart the peace process, Palestinian leaders said they would not talk to Israel until there is a “total settlement freeze.” Obama has been pushing for just that, but recently indicated a willingness to compromise. In the words of one Fatah leader: “I would say, Mr. Obama, we love you ... but I am sorry, this is not enough. ...”

Israel’s new super-duper-ultranationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday dismissed a 2007 agreement with Palestinian officials aimed at discussing the creation of a Palestinian state. Lieberman claims the agreement, made in Annapolis, Md., has “no validity.”